November 2009

Eric dropped a line on the last entry yesterday, told me I needed to post something to move the last entry down the page. I guess it is a bit upsetting to look at first thing in the morning…
Anyway, here’s to hoping you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll spend the greater part of the day working unfortunately but should get a bit of family time later this afternoon.

Just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. While I am not posting here regularly any more I decided to restore the stories mainly for research purposes. There will be no more updates here but the information stands as it is.

Update – The Marine Team won the competition this afternoon. Right now we are sitting at $37,199! They are still taking donations though so don’t stop now. It’s a great cause and it’s tax deductible as well.

Original post – It’s that time of year again. From October 26th through November 11th (Veteran’s Day for those that aren’t conscious) Project Valour IT raises money to provide voice-activated laptops and other helpful equipment to severely wounded troops. This has been going on for several years and I haven’t had the chance to (or was just too darned lazy) to get involved but this year I caught it early enough to get in. So what is Valour IT and how did it get started?

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The last ten years at Shadowscope have had their ups and downs. I’ll be back sooner or later. Thanks!

This Week’s Post Was Written By Greta

Col. Henry J. Cook

 

Past National Commander, Military Order of the Purple Heart, after serving over fifteen years with MOPH, gaining invaluable experience while in the positions of National Aide-de-Camp, Chapter Commander, Region Commander, National Junior Vice Commander and National Senior Vice Commander.

He was a career Special Forces (Green Beret) officer for thirty-three of the total forty-two years that he was on combined active and reserve duty. His combat tours began in 1967-68 when he operated behind enemy lines in for extended periods of time conducting operations with native guerrilla troops as the Executive Officer of the 4th Mobile Guerrilla. He saw additional combat in 1969-70 when he led a U.S. Special Forces Mobile Strike Force Battalion (MIKE FORCE), consisting of Green Beret officers and sergeants leading Cambodian mercenaries, again working behind enemy lines as well as reacting to attacks on friendly bases, often requiring that his unit be parachuted into hostile drop zones.

Later, he participated in Desert Shield (Saudi Arabia), Desert Storm (Kuwait) and Iraq, and Operation Provide Comfort (Support to Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq.

For his valor and military skills, Colonel Cook was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for Valor and two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device and one Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold and Silver Stars, Joint Services Commendation Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Forces Combat Diver Badge, Special Forces Tab, and numerous other U.S. and foreign decorations.

Henry Cook is now twice retired, as a soldier and as a lawyer and resides in Diamondhead, Mississippi. He is a member of the Pro Bono Consortium representing veterans who appeal denial of claims and is a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims. He’s been a member of the Mississippi Bar Association since 1978 and also serves as a Municipal Judge Pro Tem in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Other significant contributions to veterans by Henry Cook include: a major role in the creation of the Mississippi Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Ocean Springs and helping raise over $500,000 to help MOPH members in Louisiana and Mississippi who lost everything during Hurricane Katrina. In addition to MOPH, he also belongs to Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Special Forces Association (SFA), Special Operations Association (SOA), Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW).

You can read more about Col. Henry in this PDF file on pages 31 & 32.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

As you can see I am going to be peppering these in amongst my posts for the next few days. Since I’ve apparently had some sort of block over the weekend and posted about a tenth of what I normally do, consider them filler 🙂

The same deal applies that I put in my last post though, but I am going to drop the $$$ amount. Let me know of your donation (ANY AMOUNT) to Valour IT through the Marine team from this point forward and I’ll put your website link (if you have one) in a post that will sit on top of may main page for 30 days after the end of the fundraiser (November 11th). Consider it free advertising for your site. I don’t have a huge amount of traffic, somewhere in the vicinity of 1k a day but it ain’t too bad.

If you haven’t yet done so, please consider a small donation to the Valour IT Marine team. We’ve managed to assemble a team of over 65 bloggers but it’s tough for us to compete with the larger services.

Until yesterday we had a $2000 lead over the Army and a $7-8000 lead over Air Force and Navy. But our position is being overrun. We need reinforcements!

The devices that Valour-IT funds have a profound and visible effect on users/recipients and ALL money donated for Valour-IT goes to purchase and shipping of laptops, Wiis, and GPS devices (that means ZERO OVERHEAD). Valour IT provides powerful tools that help severely wounded vets (not just those with hand problems) speed up recovery and treatment, maintain a support system, and regain a sense of independence.

Valour IT facts:

• in 4+ years Valour IT has provided 4,100 laptops, over 30 Wii systems to VA hospitals, and nearly 100 handheld GPS devices
• Total online funds collected to date: nearly 3/4 of a million dollars
• Every dollar raised goes directly to wounded vets military medical centers and VA facilities nationwide, such as:

o Balboa Naval Hospital
o Brooke Army Medical Center
o Madigan Regional Medical Center
o National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda)
o Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton
o Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital (29 Palms)
o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Here’s what your donation can provide:

Voice activated laptops:
1. Help wounded vets connect with still-deployed fellow service members (relieve anxiety about how their friends are doing, allow them to maintain a support system)
2. Allow vets to stay in touch with loved ones who can’t be at their bedside
3. Run therapeutic computer programs that help restore brain/vision function,
4. Can be used to research treatments, keep track of treatment regimen.
5. Retrain for post-military employment
6. Voice control makes using a computer one of the first things they can do on their own

Wii uses:

1. Physical therapists in VA hospitals and major medical centers are using Wii fit systems with their patients
2. Motivation: Wii Sports games key into natural competitive nature
3. Track progress in a fun way

GPS uses:

1. For those with very severe PTSD or TBI (memory problems, high anxiety, etc), having a GPS increases independence and restores a sense of competence. Short-term memory problems can make it hard to navigate of new locations. A GPS can mean the difference between success and failure.

Please help. These men and women have already given so much. The price of a nice six pack of beer or an inexpensive dinner seems the least we can to in return for their sacrifices.

So if you’ve read the post that’s been sitting on top of my front page for the last week you’ll have seen the big thermometer. Have you read it or know what Valour IT is all about? Basically each year this fundraiser is held to raise money for wounded servicemen and supplies them with voice-activated laptops and other useful equipment. It’s 100% tax deductible as Soldier’s Angels (the nonprofit behind Valour IT) is a 501c nonprofit organization and as such some companies that match funds for tax-deductible donations may also be eligible as well. Contact your employer to see if they participate or not.

The fundraisers are organized each year into four different teams and as such there is quite a bit of good-natured competition going on. The teams are the Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy.

Right now Marines are leading Army by about $2200 (of course) and a third of the way through the fundraiser we’ve raised slightly over 40% of our goal but unfortunately donations seem to be slowing down so here’s the deal. Anyone that donates at least $100 US and lets me know about it I will edit the post on top with a list of the donations and a link to your website along with the amount if you want it listed and will leave it there for another 30 days giving you a months free advertisement (although you may or may not want the linkage my site sends…)

If you would like to join the Marine team you can head over here and if you want to donate do so here.

The pictures in this post? The one on top is my father. The picture is from his graduation at Parris Island in 1965 during Vietnam. The second one is my lovely wife and our son who graduated from Parris Island in September of 2007. He’s currently a Corporal with the 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion and based in Twentynine Palms, CA.

…and the last one is my son again along with my father and mother. It was my father’s first time back to the island since he graduated in 1965 which is not surprising since Parris Island doesn’t seem to rank among the fondest memories of most Marines.

I mentioned in the title that this was about the results so far so I guess I need to at least post those as well.

Marines: $14,286

Army: $12,095

Air Force: $6790

Navy: $5,035

Sweet…

…and now back to our regularly scheduled debauchery.